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The BNP Paribas Open has evolved through the years

Tennis fans will be in Indian Wells this week watching their favorite professional players compete in the BNP Paribas Open, which can trace its roots back to the 1974 American Airlines Tennis Games in Tucson, Ariz.

Tennis fans will be in Indian Wells this week watching their favorite professional players compete in the BNP Paribas Open, which can trace its roots back to the 1974 American Airlines Tennis Games in Tucson, Ariz.

The tournament, which opens Monday, was founded by tennis pros Charlie Pasarell and Raymond Moore. After it moved to Rancho Mirage's Mission Hills Country Club in 1976, the Coachella Valley became a major stop on the ATP tour.

The BNP has changed venues several times during the past 38 years, but it never left the Coachella Valley. A few years after the event moved to California, the ATP Board considered moving it to Florida, but Pasarell persuaded them to keep it in the desert.

Since 2000, the BNP , which previously was named the Indian Wells Masters and Pacific Life Open, has been played at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

Here are some key moments in the early history of the BNP Paribas Open:

2001: Andre Agassi wins title, defeating Pete Sampras

In another epic matchup, Andre Agassi got his one and only title in the California desert with a dominating performance over Sampras.

1998: Marcelo Rios wins title, and soon becomes No. 1 in the world

Rios had one of tennis' most dominant runs in 1998, reaching the Australian Open final, and winning the Super 9 series in Key Biscayne and Rome, as well as Indian Wells.

1997: Lindsay Davenport wins first title

It was a tough run for Davenport, who had to rally from a 4-1 deficit in the third set against qualifier Venus Williams in the quarterfinals. She beat two-time champion Mary Joe Fernandez in the semifinal and surprised Irina Spirlea in the finals.

1995: Women's final moves to Monday

In the beginning years of the tournament, the men and women played back-to-back, not concurrently. Because of constant rains in 1995, the women's tournament final had to be moved to Monday, when the men's tournament was beginning. It was a success, and the WTA decided to combine the events to run concurrently.

1993-94: Mary Joe Fernandez vs. Amanda Coetzer

Fernandez won the first of two women's titles in 1993, with a classic 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (6) win in the finals. The next year, Coetzer gets revenge in the semifinals as she rallies from a 4-0 deficit to beat Fernandez 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4). Fernandez would win the event again in 1995.

1991: Martina Navratilova d. Monica Seles, to deny her the No. 1 ranking for a week

Seles moved into the No. 1 ranking for the first time after her semifinal victory, but had to wait a week after losing to Navratilova in the final. It was the only time the women's tournament was played in Palm Springs.

1990: Stefan Edberg vs. Andre Agassi in the finals

In all three times Agassi reached the finals of the tournament, he had to face a serve-and-volleyer. In his first final, Agassi faced Stefan Edberg, who had dominated him in his four previous matches. Each match lasted a little over an hour and Edberg only lost 17 games total.

However, Agassi's precise ground strokes kept Edberg away from the net, and both players had to deal with winds that gusted to 40 mph. Edberg prevailed 6-4, 5-7, 7-6, 7-6 in the match of 3 hours, 25 minutes.

1988: No. 19 wild card Pete Sampras steps up his game

Sampras played his way through qualifying and into the main draw, defeating Ramesh Krishnan in the first round and Eliot Teltscher in the second before falling to Emilio Sanchez in the third round. Sanchez would reach the finals, losing to Boris Becker.

1980: Rain cancels the tournament after the quarterfinals

It would be the last time the tournament was played at Mission Hills, and it would create an opportunity for Pasarell. "It happened concurrently with Charlie having stopped playing and retiring from the main tour and looking for something to do," said Moore, Pasarell's business partner and part-owner in the tournament. "That's when Charlie went to the ATP, and said he would like to keep the tournament and take over the event in the desert. Without the rain, that opportunity might not have presented itself."

Moore said the rains made it impossible to finish the tournament. "They abandoned the tournament and there were floods everywhere," Moore said.

1979: Bruce Manson wins $1,000, then beats Bjorn Borg

Manson was a journeyman and he stopped off at Carl's Jr. to grab a bite before his first-round match in 1979. Manson picked up a scratcher game and won $1,000. Manson, who was ranked 112th, had more good fortune when he upset Borg 6-7, 7-5, 6-2.

1976: Ilie Nastase shines a full moon

Nastase was nicknamed "Nasty," as he was tennis' original bad boy. He showed that side, and a little more, at the tournament in Mission Hills when he mooned the referee. He was ejected from the match.